Fitzgerald AJ et al. (2005) Reparative properties of a commercial fish protein hydrolysate preparation. Gut 54: 775–781
Seacure® (Proper Nutrition, Inc., Pennsylvania, PA)—a dried fish-protein concentrate derived from Pacific whiting or hake—is marketed as a “...predigested source of bioactive peptides and biogenic amines, along with essential minerals and omega-3 fatty acids”, which, say the manufacturers, help to support intestinal health and healing. In common with numerous other health-food supplements, however, the product lacks rigorous scientific evidence of its efficacy. Professor Ray Playford and co-workers from Imperial College, London, have recently studied the biological activity of Seacure® using experimental models of epithelial injury and repair.
When added to rat and human intestinal cell cultures at a concentration of 1 mg/ml, the supplement was associated with an approximately threefold increase in cell proliferation. Cell migration was similarly increased in wounded monolayers. Having established that the bioactivity of Seacure® was not affected by the acidic conditions found in the stomach, the researchers found that the supplement appeared to reduce the degree of injury by 59% in an indomethacin-induced rat model of gastric injury. Subsequent analysis showed that most of the biologic activity of Seacure® was soluble in ethanol, and that glutamine and fatty acids were key active constituents.
The authors conclude that Seacure® showed biological activity and warrants further study.
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Analysis of a fish-protein supplement for intestinal health. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 2, 294 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0204
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncpgasthep0204